The Siren's Song
by Kitty Kat K.O
Summary: :AU: Ichigo's a siren, banished to the island of Gavdos, Greece after failing a task one of the Olympian Goddesses set her. All she wants is some company, and possibly some romance - when Aphrodite appears before her, is this her chance to get it? RxI


**A/N: **Another contest entry done, dusted and sorted! This time, it's for Immortal x Snow's Summer Forum Competition, which I have to say was my favourite contest so far. I loved the prompt, because it meant I could include something I totally loved! And y'know, since this is a contest entry fic, it's only fair that I state the rules so anyone reading knows. Ok, so, the theme was immortality and the oneshot had to be set in Europe. Now, because I'm obsessed with Greek Mythology, guess where I chose to set the story~? Yep! Ancient Greece in the time of the Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus! :D

In saying that, there's possibly a few things I should pop here: the island on which this is set is called Gavdos, and is currently the southernmost point of Europe. I've done my research, so hopefully everything about the island explains itself. The only thing I know that is definitely inaccurate is the fact that the two characters should not, in any way, be able to understand each other and talk. But for the purpose of this fic, they do. Oh, and um... about the fact there is a Japanese boat that's traveled to Greece? Yeah, that'll be inaccurate too - but it's fiction, so I guess I can just blame it on creative license?

I've used a number of Gods and Goddesses in this too - well, duh, since it's stylized as a Greek Myth with my own narrative touch ^^" - and so even though most of them are just mentioned and don't physically appear, I'll list them at the end of the fic so that, if you don't know a particular name or reference to a God/Goddess, it shall be at the bottom for you to look-see at. ^_^

**Warnings: **This fic is AU, set thousands of years ago. There are mentions of mild sacrificial self-harm (a little bit of cutting in not much detail) - hopefully that doesn't scare you away. The characters may be OOC, too... Oh, and some RxI fluff. Sadly because it's AU and because of the plot, I couldn't plausibly put much romance in. I'll make up for it by writing a fluffier RxI oneshot at some point soon. Promises. :3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

* * *

_Once he hears to his heart's content, sails on, a wiser man._

_We know all the pains that the Greeks and Trojans once endured_

_on the spreading plain of Troy when the gods willed it so—_

_all that comes to pass on the fertile earth, we know it all!_

- The Siren's Song, according to Homer in The Odyssey

* * *

**~The Siren's Song~**

**

* * *

**Overbearing sunshine beat down upon her exposed skin, kissing her body with ferocious lips. The blistering heat claimed the moisture in the air, forcing it to become stuffy and dry, and not even the sea breeze sufficed enough to lower the temperature just a little. Her breathing was shallow and shaky, coming out as more of a pant than a breath; all forms of liquid inside her body were quickly seeping out through either her exhalations or the sweat that covered her flesh. If she wasn't careful, she would pass out from heatstroke and dehydration. But she didn't even have the strength to move - her slender form was too lethargic in the sun for her to do anything. She couldn't even bear to raise a hand to her face and swipe away the stray strawberry locks - ones that had become matted to her due to the beads of perspiration. The cloth that adorned her torso was gradually creeping up and up, in attempts to free it from layers of material and cool it. It never even crossed her mind about the chances of sunburn - but even if it had, she wouldn't care. There wasn't really anywhere she could go to avoid the burning rays, so therefore she didn't bother.

The redheaded girl lay on the over-sized stone chair overlooking the isle, her head lolling to one side as she gazed out at the pristine, ripple-less water. The reflection of Apollo's glowing sun lit up the surface of the deep blue, making it seem enchanted and sparkling. But it wasn't - not in her eyes, at least. Nothing in her world felt that way anymore. She pried her eyes open, blinking them a few times as they adjusted to the bright light. A quick scan out to the horizon was all she needed to confirm that she was in for another mind-numbing, companionless day. Still, her melancholic orbs gazed outward, hoping, striving and desperate to find even the tiniest trace of a nearing ship. A silent sigh passed through her lips; it had been a while now since she had last felt the surging, frustrating energy of impatience - she'd been waiting so long that she'd just gotten used to the act as time had passed. And it was dull, emotionless. She ached for something to feel other than desperation and loneliness… but she knew that until a ship passed her by, she would continue on the way she was.

So she watched the blazing horizon, and she waited as patiently as ever. The sounds of the waves lapping up at the arches of Tripiti below reached her ears, and she sighed, altering her position on the chair. There was nothing. No-one. A frown took its usual place upon her lips, and she let her eyelids droop closed. Perhaps sleep would be of use to her; it would pass the time, consume her day so that she wouldn't have to face it. Yes, but - she turned over, the heat scolding the side of her body bore to it becoming unbearable - she'd have to find shade. And that would include moving - really moving. And plus, it would limit her chances to catch a boat if one were miraculously to pass by. The bothersome debate danced around in her head a while, flitting between sides of for and against, until eventually, she came to the conclusion that retreating to whatever shelter she could find would be the most beneficial thing. Her gaze cast out to Poseidon's great realm one last time, as she kicked her legs out from underneath her and leapt onto Tripiti's rocky ground before turning and dragging herself away.

The land was dry, the neglected shrubbery serving as the only green that littered the inland. She walked several paces before dipping down and snatching up a handful of fruits from a growing laurel, throwing a couple of the berries into her mouth as she continued to amble along. The skin was hard, the taste bland, but it was food all the same… and because of the lack of natural nutritional substances on the island, she had been forced to become accustomed to eating it. She swallowed, and then proceeded to chuck another few berries into her mouth. Upon approaching another of the same plant, her vision was caught by the small, white, flowers that provided decoration. She smiled softly, pausing a moment to gently raise one of the bell-shaped floras with the tip of her index finger. She loved this plant - so much so that, after being banished, she had taken her name from its. Fráoula. Her smile widened at the thought, but fell into a concentrating line as something occurred to her. The fruits were not strawberries, so why… so why call the laurel a strawberry tree? She shook her head; such answers could only be provided by Demeter, and right now, she and the goddess were not on speaking terms.

The strawberry girl exhaled a blast of air, directing it up at her fringe. As a result, some of the hair fluttered upward, but the majority was motionless. Her eyes went wide upon realising why the rest of the hair had not followed the few strands, and she swiped aimlessly at her forehead to liberate the locks stuck to it, smacking herself in the process.

"Owww!" she whined, pouting and cupping her palms over the now-sore area. She stamped her feet too, just for good measure, before huffily turning and snatching some berries from the strawberry tree and stomping off. Childishly, she shoved them into her mouth and chewed, her face scrunching up as though she'd smelled something nasty. These didn't taste like… Instantly her eyes widened and she spat out the contents inside her mouth, spluttering and coughing on the air as she tried to rid the awful flavour from her mouth. The berries were one thing, but the leaves… She shuddered, not knowing how she managed to mistake them for the red fruit. _Oh, right, because she was stupid._ Shaking her head, she advanced forward, plucking up berries - and checking to make sure every time she did that they were, indeed, _berries_ - as she went along, making her way further inland. The path she followed was worn only by her own feet; no-one else used this isle, Demeter had made sure of that come the time of her exile. So the strawberry girl alone walked the trail daily, carving and treading in her own footpath to the most sacred place on all of Gavdos. The caves the held home to the shrines.

Upon reaching them the entrance, she slowly made her way inside, before halting, and lowering herself until she was kneeling before them. Then, stretching her arms out in front of her, she bent her body forward until she was bowing.

"Oh, great God of the Sea, Poseidon," she began in a humble whisper, addressing the first of several shrines. "I have worshiped you for the, well, time I've been alive. And er, I ask only one thing in return for the sacrifice I give to you tonight! Create a storm, I beg of you! …Please? …May you bring tidal… fury? Lashing rain, booming… clouds? Let the storm of the night cast its, erm, glory upon the Sea, and please could you bring a boat close enough to Gavdos' shore?"

After the last word, she stopped abruptly, sinking back to a low bow, due to having risen whilst she pleaded. But her eyes kept glancing upward, peeking at the handmade shrine before her. It wasn't much - a few shells and rocks she had found along the shoreline made up the base, with a bowl of water placed in front to represent the sea. She couldn't help but smile at her handiwork; after all, there really wasn't much to be found around the isle, and the lack of other beings to help her out left her to do any work she needed done alone. But the smile faded from her face, and a shudder rocked her body at the thought of what she had to do next. Slowly, she reached out her hand and curled her fingers around a sharp, blade-like shard of rock. Then, bringing it up to her face, she inspected it disgustedly, noting every fleck of blood that covered its edge. She closed her chocolate eyes, not daring to look as she held out her arm and brought the shard closer. With a wince, she sliced a gash through her lower arm, quickly moving to place it over the bowl of water so that it caught her blood.

"Why do you do that, child?"

The voice startled the strawberry girl, and she whipped her head round in shock. Upon seeing the creature that had spoken, she gasped, forgetting all about her bloody arm as she slapped both her hands over her mouth. True, there was the shock that there were no other inhabitants of Gavdos anyway, but it wasn't just the presence of the other who had magically appeared that stunned her. It was _who she was_.

"A-Aphrodite!" she managed to gasp out in awe. It came out muffled between the gaps of her fingers, but the Goddess of Love just smiled kindly at the creature before her. She nodded, and ventured forward, her long satin robes swishing around her eternally youthful body as she stepped gracefully toward the girl. In one elegant movement, she reached out her glowing, milky right hand, fingers relaxed and curled slightly inward as she offered it to the girl to take. Shaking, the strawberry girl did so gingerly, her face still holding an expression of amazement and wonder. She tried to avoid the gold and bejeweled accessories adorning the goddess' skin, for fear that she would dirty them with her own unworthy fingers. Still smiling, Aphrodite helped her to her feet - catching her as she stumbled on weak, jelly-like legs.

"Come, give me your other arm, child. I want to see that injury." The goddess' order was spoken in a soft and gentle voice so as not to alarm her, and she reached out for the girl's wounded limb whilst doing so. Complacently, the girl gave her arm out to her, and Aphrodite took it in both palms and turned it, thoroughly inspecting the gash as though she was a doctor. The thought crossed the girl's head that, possibly, she might be - wasn't it true that the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus were capable of anything? But her curious thought was quelled instantly when Aphrodite spoke up again, her voice still enchanting and calm.

"Yes, Apollo will have to look at that, perhaps. Well, considering you have no medical care other than yourself here, that is. Tell me, child, how often have you been doing this to yourself?"

The girl's words got lost on her tongue, the cavern of her mouth drying up in the process. Her lips opened and closed incessantly, causing a small '_pop!_' sound to echo across the shrine's rocky chamber. It took a few minutes for her brain to calculate that she needed to speak quickly, before the Goddess of Love thought her to be a disrespectful idiot.

"WellyouseeI'-"

A tinkling, silver laugh interrupted her explanation quickly, causing the girl to cut off abruptly and realization to sink in. Gee, well… when her brain had told her to speak quickly, she took it literally. So now she guessed the goddess would find her just to be an idiot, as opposed to a rude idiot. Her face fell, and a vein in her forehead pulsed. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered to herself, hands clenching into angry fists.

"I'm sorry, pardon?" Aphrodite questioned, the tone of laughter still laced into her voice.

"Ah!" The strawberry girl leapt back, her anger vanishing as she shoved her hands out in front of her and waved them around in the air. "Ah! No! I-I mean - not you! Me! I was talking to me! …Uh, myself, I mean! I- er- I-" Aphrodite merely continued to laugh good-naturedly at her awkward display of apology, watching as the girl flailed her arms about and pranced around the shrine.

"Child, calm down. I'm not offended. Please, repeat what you said before," she commanded gently. Upon noticing the speed at which the girl's mouth opened again to hurl out the prior words, her eyes twinkled mischievously and she added, "Slower than before, please. I want to be able to understand the dilemma this time."

Grinning sheepishly a moment, the girl took time to compose herself before speaking. Breathing deeply, she opened her mouth - and chucked out the exact same words at the exact same speed as before. The goddess blinked, before giggling at the expression that took over the girl's face; her cheeks burned a bright red, her eyes widened with disbelief and her lips twisted into a deformed kind of embarrassed grin.

"Um… sorry," she apologized, the phrase coming out as more of a squeak than a normal sound. "I-I said that um, I've been doing it a little while now as a means of sacrificial worship to the Gods. I know sacrifice normally includes animals, but uh… I couldn't find good enough animals - actually, I couldn't find any - so I just used myself instead. I just hoped it would be acceptable and worthy enough…" As she explained, the look on Aphrodite's face changed from soft to stern, but a small hint of caring shone through the tougher emotion.

"Sacrificing yourself is no way to please the gods. Child, you are lonely, am I correct? You are looking for companionship, and hoping that the gods shall bring it to you, right?" The girl nodded yes to both of the questions she was being asked, her expression growing more and more sheepish and guilty - as though she felt she had been caught red-handed for a formidable crime. "Well then, do you now know why your pleas have not been answered?"

The girl thought a moment, blinking as the reasoning hit her. "Oh… It's because I've been hurting myself."

Aphrodite nodded, and continued in a smoother, more motherly voice, "So therefore, if you stop doing such a thing, your prayers will be answered. Child, I take pity on you - to be banished here with no company and stripped of your wings and abilities is a most terrible punishment. So lonely." She sighed overdramatically, placing her porcelain-like cheek into the palm of her had and allowing her eyes to flutter shut. "I've heard your cries for love in the night, so broken and desperate; as you sleep you wept tears of insufferable agony. Oh, it was so terrible to watch your heartache and pain. All you want is a companion, am I correct? Or for anything that would allow your misery to end?"

A small, sad smile tugged at the corner of the girl's lips. She nodded once, as a sparkling tear trickled down her cheek. The goddess knew exactly what she wanted and how she felt - of course she did, she was the Goddess of _Love_, and right now, the strawberry girl felt so utterly _unloved_. It was therefore only natural she had attracted the attention of Aphrodite. "Please," she begged, "I'll do anything."

"One prayer. I will bestow to you one prayer. All I ask of you in return is that you do not harm yourself, else I shall take it away," Aphrodite granted. The strawberry girl shrieked in happiness and - for a moment forgetting whom she was talking to - leapt forward and enveloped the goddess in a hug. Her method of gratitude evoked a silvery laugh from Aphrodite, who was not used to being hugged by any creature other than a god. She pat the girl on the head, before maneuvering to loosen the arms that clutched around her waist and releasing herself. "I must go, child. Your wish will be granted fairly soon - do not worry about that. But I have other duties to attend to right now, so I bid you farewell, little Fráoula."

With a wave of her hand, the goddess began to drift away; the transfer was so quick and airy, that the strawberry girl could not make sense of it - she could see the beautiful goddess fading further and further away, and yet it seemed as if she were both stationary and flying at the same time. The only logical thought that flit through her head was to give chase. So she did. The strawberry girl ran, out of the cave, over the inland, past the strawberry trees and the junipers and the other small maquis that littered the land, right out to Tripiti and the large chair atop its cliff-edge. But she reached it too late to catch the departing goddess - the only thing she was able to seize was the vision of Aphrodite as she returned to the waves, becoming part of the sea-foam she was born from.

The girl's shoulders sagged, and the feeling of loneliness set in as the other presence disappeared from the isle. A frown tugged down the corners of her lips and she sighed dejectedly, turning and making to wander, crestfallen, away from the rocks. But as she did so, something caught the corner of her eye, and her head darted upwards. The sky was darkening, grey and black clouds tumbling in toward the island. Alarmed, she spun, gazing out at the sky above the sea. There, too, did black clouds race inward at incredible speed. No real wind pushed them on - at least, it hadn't done a moment before. Suddenly, she was almost swept off her feet as a gale blew across from the waves - and from behind her, too. The once calm water became enraged; a vicious blue beast, whose waves began to build, growing taller and taller as the sea became more violent. They erupted below her, upon the bottom of the arched rocks of Tripiti, breaking into foam as they met the land. And then she was transfixed - the crashing spray seemed to be hissing to her, begging her for something. She could only heed their cry.

"_Sing, siren, sing!" _

And so she sang.

No ships ever passed Gavdos, therefore she had not cried out her melodic curse for a long while. She thought she'd lost her voice, that it would at least be rusty, but as the notes poured out from her, echoing and bouncing off the natural-acoustic walls of the Tripiti bay, she realised the sound was perfect. Stunning. Alluring. She closed her chocolate eyes and tipped her head back, a smile painting her formerly sorrowful face as she belted out the song of the sirens. Her harmonious singing carried on a while, all throughout the earsplitting storm as it raged on around her, and yet somehow holding note above it, her voice carrying over the top of the noise of the wind and the waves. She didn't even notice when the storm eased and fell apart - her ears did not hear the wind's piercing screams turn back to near-silent whispers; her eyes did not see the monstrous waves revert to kindly ripples. Even her skin did not feel the returning heat of the golden sun as the black clouds parted and gave way to the light. She simply continued to sing and sing, and sing to her heart's content. Her song called for companionship, called out the promise of truths, called out to whoever may be upon the sea to come forth to her forever.

Her mind became obscured and she sunk into a trance-like state; her eyes fluttered open and she gazed out at the waves, settling on a ship just off the coast. She sang to it, beckoning it to her. It came. No-one could resist a siren. Not even with the knowledge of the huge pillar of rock blocking their way and the promise of a watery grave if they remained on course. She kept singing; the boat kept sailing. And in a second, it crashed, wood falling everywhere as it hit the Tripiti arch beneath where the siren stood.

* * *

The seawater hadn't been cold as he'd plunged into it, much to his surprise. But he still didn't like the fact he was soaked from head to toe in the salty liquid and sand. A scowl marred his lips, a snarl ripping from his throat as he dragged himself up the beach by his forearms. His legs were torn up, blood pouring from the wounds he had acquired from splinters of sharp wood having sliced into his flesh. He winced as one thigh met a stone, burning pain rushing through the limb and traveling further around his body. He bit his tongue hard enough for it, too, to bleed, as he tried to maneuver himself off the large pebble and reposition his injured leg on safer ground. However, the action didn't come without excruciating agony; a pained cry leapt from his mouth before he could bite it back, and he thumped the ground with a tensed fist in anger because of it. He wasn't used to feeling so weak or being so helpless and defenseless. He had nothing - that song had captured the ears and minds of he and his men, filling them with the unintentional desire to head toward it. And once they had started, they couldn't stop. Needless to say, when they had crashed into the cliff-rock, and the boat had smashed into a thousand pieces, none of his men had survived. And for a moment, he too believed that he had also perished - the singing had stopped abruptly, and his lack of being able to hear it, even though he was underwater and the notion should have been near-impossible anyway, had left him feeling empty and dead. So when he had risen to the surface and gasped for breath, he had thought it was a miracle he was actually still alive.

But perhaps he was still delusional from the song - the sound of pounding footsteps running over the beach toward him drummed in his ears, and when he glanced up, he saw a young redheaded girl dashing over the sand. She was clad in measly dirty-white cloth, her short, scraggy red hair whipping around her face as she ran. She seemed to reach him in almost a second - before he could fully register it, she had collapsed to her knees in the sand beside him and was tearing at his trouser-legs, ripping off the material and then tying it right back over his gashes in the way of bandages. She didn't speak to him, and nor did he to her. The young blonde man, simply too amazed at what was happening, just lay back and allowed her to continue to dress his wounds.

After a short while, she finished, and he looked down at her handiwork… His eye immediately began to twitch at the sight - his legs appeared even more of a mess now than when it had been a disarray of torn flesh and blood before! He sighed, reminding himself the mysterious girl had at least tried, and had it not been for her being there, he may well have died of blood-loss in a few hours, knowing full well he couldn't take care of himself right now - although his pride argued against that. And if she inhabited the island, surely there would be others - possibly ones that knew better medical care. He switched his gaze to look at her, intent on questioning her about who she was and where civilization was located - but stopped abruptly when he noticed her chocolate-coloured eyes were wide with amazement and focused intensely on his face. One of his eyebrows quirked, and the small movement alone brought the girl out of her daze, sending her rocketing into hysterical speech and arm-flapping.

"Woah, hey!" he cried, reaching forward with his arm and grabbing one of her flailing wrists in his hand. She stopped her shrieks and thrashing immediately, her head tilting to one side as she returned to staring at him. If he could have, and if it weren't rude - oh, who was he kidding? He would have done it if he could even if it were an impolite and disrespectful thing to do - he would have smacked his hand against his forehead in total disbelief. Perhaps it wasn't lucky for this girl to have found him; she seemed pretty freaky, and could possibly be the end of him rather than his saviour. But, instead of indulging himself in the severely needed rude action, he settled for an attention-grabbing cough and, once he had attained that from her, a question to break the ice.

"Who exactly are you?"

She almost beamed just upon hearing his voice - aside from the goddess she had been blessed an audience with earlier, this was the first voice she had heard in a long time. Possibly the first human voice she had heard in a hundred years. But then his words sunk in, and it took all of her willpower just to prevent herself from hitting him. All her willpower, _and_ _more_, it seemed, because she promptly proceeded to slap him upside the head.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell was that for?" he yelled, placing a hand over his now-throbbing, crimson cheek.

"Where's the 'thank you'?" she asked bluntly, folding her arms across her chest and turning her head away in a pout.

"…You have _got _to be kidding me. A thank you for what? You made my legs look more mutilated than they were in the first place!" he snapped at her, shaking his head fiercely when some of his golden-blonde hair fell into his eyes irritatingly.

"Well, _soh-ree, _Mr… Wait. Who are you anyway? Why are you here? No-one comes here, ever! Like, and I mean _no-one! _Where are you from? Wh-"

"You know, if you keep talking in that incessant, whiny voice, you're gonna give me a headache," he interrupted, cutting off her stream of never-ending questions. Her cheeks began to darken and her eyes narrowed into a glare, before squeezing shut altogether as she began to rant.

"Ooh! You! You're such a jerk! I just saved your life! ...Or, um, something along those lines! I helped you, and the least you could do would be to state your gratitude with a nice thank you!"

"…'State my gratitude', huh?" His tone was mocking and suave, a smirk dancing across his lips as he finished speaking. This only served to further enrage her, and she folded her arms roughly, snapping her head away from his direction as she huffed.

"…Shut up!"

By this point he had, thankfully, let go of her wrist, and so with his hold now free he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back on them. "I would, but you see, you haven't answered my question," he stated brusquely, arrogant smirk not once leaving his lips.

"You never answered none of mine, either," she countered, sticking her tongue out childishly at him.

"Touché. But you just used a double-negative, so I guess I'll take back that 'touché' and replace it with 'baka' instead," he said swiftly, not hesitating even a moment from the instant she finished speaking all throughout the duration of his own words as they flowed from his mouth.

"…_What _did you just call me? And um… what in all the Underworld did you just say?" she asked, stunned. He didn't resist the urge this time, and without delay proceeded to smack his forehead in incredulity.

"You really are a baka," he muttered beneath his breath, before removing his palm from his face and pressing on at a louder volume, "Where I'm from, the country of Japan, the word 'baka' is an insult used to mean 'stupid' or 'moron' - so, very fitting to you, it seems. Now answer my question: who are you?"

"You mean there are other places than _Greece and Turkey?_" she asked, bewildered, completely ignoring his question. He nodded frustratedly, impatient for her to give him a response to what he actually wanted to know, rather than distract him with dumb questions. But just as he was about to ask for a third time, she unexpectedly answered. "I'm a siren, and um, I have no name. Eheheh, sorry." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

His eyes widened a notch and he gulped, before rapidly composing himself and ridding all traces of shocked emotion from his face. "A siren? As in, the fantasy maidens who lure in men with their voices?" he said - well, or rather, _was going to say, _but she cut him off before he had the chance to voice it.

"Hey! Wait a second! You just called me stupid! I can't believe you! You- you- you jerk!" …He had a feeling that if he continued talking to her, his forehead was soon going to hurt just as much - or possibly more than - his legs did.

"You're so slow. Ah, whatever, just help me to wherever there are other people - a city or something," he huffed, almost growling when she glared at him.

"What on earth do you mean by 'other people'? There's no-one else on this island other than me! Well… I suppose and you now."

"What do you mean there's nobody else?"

She stared at him once again in bewilderment, eyes wide and confused at his outburst. "Um… yeah. There's no-one. I hope that's not a problem for you. I… I've been so lonely by myself so, even though you're a total jerk already, I'd really like it if you stayed." Her voice had lost its fiery edge, and the suddenly sweet, shy tone in which she spoke baffled him. A light blush covered her cheeks and she clasped her hands in her lap, head bowed slightly. He stared at her, trying to make sense of how this girl's personality had done a one-eighty so quickly. After a couple moments of silence, she glanced back up at him, and awkwardly shoved her hand out in a means for him to shake. "So um, let's start over and be friends, ok? I… I sometimes call myself Fráoula, named after the strawberry tree on this island."

He blinked, but rapidly snapped himself out of his stupor and hastily shoved his hand into her outstretched one, giving it a brief squeeze before pulling back. "And my name is Ryou Shirogane. Strawberry, eh? Well, _Strawberry_, where I'm from, you'd be called Ichigo."

Her face lit up and her eyes sparkled in enthusiasm. "Really?" she shrieked happily, beaming from ear to ear. It had been so long since someone had given her a name, that she couldn't help but launch forward and engulf him in a tight hug.

"Ok, ok, off baka Strawberry! …C'mon, that's enough now! Hey! Er-" Try as he might, Ryou was unable to shove the redhead off, and so, after a while he simply gave up, sighing as he lay back and just let her hug him for as long as she saw fit. After all, this girl seemed interesting enough and… well, he didn't really mind her hugging him. A small smirk reappeared on his lips at this thought.

* * *

"So, how did you get all those scars?"

The day had passed and night was drawing near, the twilight closing in with its darkening sky and glittering stars appearing across the heavens. Ichigo and her new companion lay back against the flat rocks atop Tripiti, and although it was uncomfortable, neither dared to move. It had been silent a while between them, both choosing to say nothing and just enjoy the others company for the time being - as they had found, rather comically, that every time they started a conversation, it would end a short bit later in an argument. But now, as Ryou reignited their duologue, she turned to face him feeling nothing but wonder. She hadn't realised he'd seen them.

"Well? Going to tell me, or are you just gonna lie there and stare at me all night?" he teased, moving an arm out to flick her nose.

"Nya! Don't do that!" she squealed, instinctively swatting the feature with her own hand for coverage… but realising a moment too late that it only managed to cause her more pain like that. Puffing her cheeks out huffily, she turned away from him and glared up at the stars. However, she found she couldn't hold a grudge, and blew out the trapped air in a swift breath as she contemplated her answer.

"Um… These ones on my arm are from my sacrifices to the Gods. I had nothing else to offer to them other than myself so…" She flicked her irises to gaze at him out of the corner of her eyes, skimming his face and drinking in his expression. Yes, he was listening with engaged interest, and so she deemed it ok to carry on. "And the ones on my back are from…"

"What ones on your back? I haven't seen them. Show me," he interrupted, his tone gentle, but demanding in a way that she almost found herself obliging to his command. However, slowly, she shook her head and denied him it.

"No, nor have I. And I don't exactly want to, either. I can only imagine what they look like from what the other sirens told me of the wounds that gave me the scars." She sighed. "…Demeter ripped my wings out. I kinda failed my task - failed it so badly that she punished 'both my body and my mind'; after tearing the wings she had made me from my back, she dumped me on this isle of Gavdos, alone, to 'rot in misery until I die'. But see, I don't know how she planned to make me die, because sirens are nearly immortal!" Ichigo paused her growing rant, scrunching her face up in confusion at the last concept.

"Damn, baka Strawberry. What did you fail so bad that she did that to you?"

Her expression instantly changed to a sheepish, shifty one, and she rubbed the back of her head nervously as she tried to look anywhere but at him. "Um, see, uh… I kinda got distracted when I was supposed to be searching for her daughter, Persephone. Eheheh… the berries just looked so tasty - how was I to know they were hallucinogenic ones?" She glanced back at him once finished explaining, dismayed to see he was looking at her as if she were the stupidest creature he'd ever met.

"You really are a baka Strawberry," he stated bluntly. Ok, so perhaps he definitely _did _consider her the stupidest thing he'd seen.

"Hey!" she whined, flailing her arms about in mid air. "I just said it wasn't my fault! Stop calling me stupid, you baka!" His response startled her so much she jumped; he threw his head back and laughed, his whole body quaking with amusement. "Hey… What's so funny?" she asked, glaring as she sat up and placed both hands on her hips. He waved her question off, too hysterical to give her an answer. She groaned and rolled her eyes, shifting the position of her hands so that she could lean back on them instead. But as she went to prop her arms back, her left palm caught a sharp stone, and she flinched forth, hissing in pain. Ryou's laughter instantly ceased and he twisted round to look at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Owie," she muttered, grabbing the stone from her palm and then shaking the injured hand so that the pain eased. Only, she wasn't paying attention to where the stone was going, and she managed to carve a deep gash into her opposite arm, blood trickling from it instantly. She didn't even notice as it happened, nor as her new-found companion suddenly shot bolt upright and reached for her arm. She shrugged him away defiantly, pouting like a child as she tended to her bleeding hand.

"Baka, give me your arm so I can take a look at it. You've cut yourself, Strawberry!" Ryou cried out, making another grab for her. He managed to get hold of it successfully this time, though unbeknown to him at that moment, it was because she had frozen at his words.

"Cut… myself…?" she whispered incredulously. What happened next came only as a blur to her, nothing around her sinking in or making sense until it was too late. The boy beside her disappeared; the wind started to howl and whip at her body; the waves roared and grew, beginning to crash forcefully upon the rocks below. And from the sea-spray, the Goddess Aphrodite rose. But the strawberry girl was only vaguely aware of this; barely did she notice her world beginning to spin around her. There was only one sound she could hear now: the breaking waves as they hissed to her mischievously. _"Sing, siren, sing! Call to him, call to him!"_

So once again, she opened her mouth. And sang.

"Child, I asked you not to do that to yourself. I promised you a friend on the basis you did not fall back to cutting yourself ever, whether it be sacrifice or accident; if you cannot keep your part of the bargain, I'm afraid I cannot keep mine. He won't come back - he can hear you but he won't come back."

The goddess' words drifted into the siren's ears, but she ignored them, as tears stung her eyes and she continued to sing desperately.

The ethereal being before her sighed, and clasped her hands in over her heart in an apologetic manner. "Child, you ignore my words, my warnings. And you make the biggest mistake of your life; you see, a siren is only immortal until a human resists her song. He is resisting yours. But at least now, perhaps Demeter will return to you the wings she once blessed you with - your journey to Hades will soon begin, and perhaps when you reach the Underworld, you shall be able to keep Persephone company as Demeter intended."

The tears obscured her vision, welling and falling faster than she had ever known them to. She refused to sink back to a life of loneliness and solitary, so continued to sing until she reached her death. And when the time came, her lifeless body fell to the ground, blank chocolate eyes falling shut and her breathing eventually stilling. But for a few moments after, her final song echoed out from Tripiti and caught his ears.

* * *

Ryou didn't know where he was. He didn't know how he'd gotten there. But he had gathered that her gods were powerful, and that most likely, one of them had sent him to wherever he now lay. It took a while for him to regain orientation of his surroundings, but once he did so he found himself on a rather large wooden boat, sailing away from Gavdos' shore over the suddenly calm waters of the sea. A sound reached him, filling his ears with the sweetest music he had ever heard… but he recognized it, as if he had heard it before. Listening intently, he concentrated hard on the lyrical melody. With a gasp, Ryou bolted to his feet and staggered forward, ignoring the brutal pain in his legs as he pushed them on, despite them threatening to give way any second. He reached the back of the boat, just in time to catch the last words as they fell upon his ears. The realization at what they were hit him, and he gave up, allowing his legs to wobble and disappear from beneath him as they collapsed to the wooden deck. Somehow, he knew they were the last words he'd ever hear from her, the final words of her song.

_"Thank you."_

_

* * *

_**~Owari~**_  
_

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* * *

_**A/N: **As promised, here is a list of the Gods and Goddesses used in the story:

_Apollo, God of the Sun and Healing (as well as many other things, but those aren't relevant to this story.)_

_Poseidon, God of the Sea_

_Demeter, Goddess of Fertility and Harvest (over grains, fertility of the land, and the four seasons)_

_Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty_

_Persephone, daughter of Demeter (The parts which contain references to Demeter and Persephone come from the Greek Myth in which Persephone was stolen away by Hades. I'll not go into any details though - if you're interested, feel free to look it up. It's an excellent myth. ^_^)_

_Hades, God of the Death and ruler of the Underworld  
_

Ichigo's speech to Poseidon's shrine: ok, so, this is Ancient Greece that the story's set in. As such, worship is huge. But Ichigo's speech sounds a little off, I know. It was hard to get her to say stuff such as that and still remain in-character - I mean, I adjusted it slightly by making her tone seem questioning and putting the stuttering in there but... I dunno. I'll let the readers and reviewers be the judge of that.

The use of the word 'duologue': It's a Greek Myth style story. So I figured, I may as well include an element of a Greek Tragedy in it, too - the duologue. In both scenes containing Ichigo where she's speaking, it's only to one person at a time. The fact that there are only two people in the scene, talking, means that it's a duologue. The ending is also quite Greek Tragedy style, too.

Ok, so, that's about it for my notes. Sorrry they're so long for this. Anyway, review, pretty please, because I worked so hard on the research and the writing and everything!


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